(Guest Post: Tony Rogers)
In WLC #160 it lists several things that are incumbent upon those who hear the Word, among which is the seldom-mentioned requirement to “confer of it” with others. To confer of the Word means we are to talk about it, to put off all unlawful and unprofitable conversation and make the Word the primary subject of our conversations with one another.
An example of this can be found in the case of the Lord Jesus who, following upon His resurrection, joined the conversation of two distraught disciples as they walked by the way, turning their foolish talk to the Scriptures (Luke 24:13-27, esp. vv. 25-27). Of course this is but one instance of what Jesus is seen doing all throughout the Gospels. If this was the practice of the Lord Himself, then it should also be the practice of those who own Him as Lord.
This duty may also be inferred from Scripture in diverse ways. For example:
- The Word of God is to be in our hearts (Psalm 119:11); it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45); therefore, the Word of God ought to be in our mouths when we speak with one another.
- Scripture commands us to speak the truth to one another (Zech. 8:16; Eph. 4:15, 25); the Bible is the Word of truth (John 17:17; Acts 26:25; 2 Tim. 2:15); therefore, we are to speak the Word to one another.
In addition to the example of our Lord and legitimate deductions that can be made from Scripture, the obligation to converse with one another about the Word is also expressly commanded. The locus classicus in this regard is Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
In a sermon preached July 20th, 1555, on Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Calvin said:
Therefore let us consider, that whereas we have so much needless talk our Lord will have his people exercised in talking and conferring upon his law, whether it be in resting, or in journeying, or when they be at home in their house. If we minded this warning well, surely it would be a bridle to rein us back and to withdraw us from the unprofitable talk whereunto we are so much given. [John Calvin, Sermons on Deuteronomy, Facsimile of 1583 edition (Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1987), p. 276.]*
People speak about what they know and love. If we are largely taken up with idle talk and seldom speak of the word to one another, especially on the Lord’s Day when we hear the Word preached and have the responsibility of improving upon what we have heard, it is an indication that we do not know and love Scripture as much as we ought, and is a call for us to more earnestly search, hear, and meditate on the Word of God.
*I have modernized the English from that found in the Facsimile edition.
Scotty is a native of Santa Anna, Texas. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1994 and completed his Masters of Divinity at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2005. Scotty’s Air Force service of eleven years included time as a Security Forces Officer protecting nuclear weapons and also instructing at Officer Training School before being called into pastoral ministry. He and his wife Kerry are parents of three children, Clayton, Avery, and Grace.
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